CAM therapies are Complementary and Alternative Medicine treatments that help alleviate symptoms without relying on pharmaceuticals or more invasive medical treatments like surgery. While there are many CAM therapies out there, I wonder if any have as many potential diagnoses as does massage therapy.
Consider that:
o Massage therapy has been demonstrated to help treat symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, lowering levels of pain, anxiety and depression while improving physical sensation and muscle movements.
o Massage therapy has been shown to reduce levels of pain, itching and anxiety in burn victims.
o Sufferers of chronic neck pain have had their pain levels, anxiety and muscle hardness reduced with effective acupressure. People with insomnia have also been shown to have their condition improved with acupressure (see above link).
o Massage therapy has also been shown to help with symptoms and generally improve the mood of people suffering from: post-operative pain; breast cancer; depression; arthritis; pregnancy; autism; asthma; the aftereffects of a stroke; stress; jaw pain, and the list goes on and on and on.
Will all this research demonstrating massage therapy’s effectiveness as a CAM therapy, I think it is somewhat safe to say that massage is an aspirin among CAM therapies, a common prescription for pain and discomfort for those suffering from symptoms of a wide range of ailments.
Ultimately, however, massage therapy establishes a human connection that allows for pain in the recipient to decrease and a person’s mood to improve, as the story of Logan Lee demonstrates. While this Blog continues to catalog the many, many specific health benefits that massage therapy provides, it’s important to remember that, in the end, massage therapy is a tremendous tool to improve the general wellness of people all over the world.